


battered polaroids

by orphan_account



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2015-06-13
Packaged: 2018-04-04 06:35:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4128406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arizona/Callie (and Sofia) fluffy post-ep for 8x16. There's a wall of miracles in her Peds ward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	battered polaroids

_Some of them survive._

 

***

 

There’s a wall of miracles on her Peds ward; shining faces with no trace of the too-small babies they once were, drowned by the vastness of a warm incubator. It’s a staple of every Peds ward she’s ever worked in – a corkboard of bent polaroids, or blu-tacked to an office door. She used to keep them in a drawer behind the nurse’s station until the greasy fingerprints and torn edges confirmed to her just how often others turned to those same photos. Until she found nurses sharing pictures with terrified parents, desperate for whatever reassurance they could find.

 

So she invited the tiny humans – their success stories – into the hospital, and painted a mural; found her staff congregating there after a hard case. They celebrated their accomplishments and tried not to think of everything that might come after those accomplishments. A single photo can’t represent the entirety of a child’s life.

 

Soon after she was released, a well-meaning nurse added the polaroid of Sofia, of _her daughter_ , moments before Calliope had begged for her release from a car seat.

 

She tore it down, yanking paint from the mural in her haste and leaving a white mark in the middle of a tree branch. The nurse painted over it and she cried in her office for ten minutes before leaving early and telling no-one.

 

***

 

Closing the door behind her, Callie toed off her shoes, placing them neatly by the doorway - although that would last only until Sofia got hold of them – and headed in the direction of the bedroom, setting purse and coat on the counter as she went.

 

“Hey.” Callie leaned against the doorframe and smiled at the beautiful commonality of the sight before her. Arizona was leaning against the headboard, having appropriated Callie’s pillow for a backrest, Sofia dozing in her arms. “What are you doing in here?”

 

Arizona glanced up with a brief smile, but quickly returned her gaze to their daughter. Much like Callie, Sofia typically slept with arms and legs askew and with little care for blankets. Also like Callie, when in Arizona’s arms she disregarded such habits and simply cuddled closer. “It’s warmer in here,” she offered in explanation.

 

Laughing softly, Callie moved toward the bed and took her own place, tugging at Arizona’s temporary backrest to reclaim it for herself and pulling her wife towards her. Arizona went willingly; Callie was a better and comfier support any day. “You could have turned the heating up.”

 

Arizona shrugged against her chest, drawing Sofia closer. A momentary sigh escaped before she turned her head to look up at Callie. “What time is Mark coming to get her?”

 

Callie frowned, fingers tracing over Arizona’s t-shirt-covered abdomen. “Six, I think.” Arizona knew that. She’d been the one to write it on the kitchen schedule, and it was in their (synced) phone calendars.

 

Nodding, Arizona moved to shift off the bed. “We should feed her. It’s -” she glanced across at the alarm clock and frowned “- nearly five-fifteen.” She pouted. “I can’t wait until she’s older so we can actually have more hours between hometime and bedtime.”

 

Callie laughed. “I can’t believe you call leaving work, hometime. Dork.” The kiss she pressed to Arizona’s cheek soothed the sting of the affectionate insult.

 

“That’s what it is, Calliope.”

 

“Mm-hmm.” Callie tightened her grip around the blonde’s waist and pulled her back towards her, making Arizona laugh and Sofia grumble in protest. “Stay here a few more minutes. We still have time.” Arizona’s body melded back into hers willingly, and a heavy sigh escaped.

 

Callie frowned. Beginning the long process of drawing out whatever had caused Arizona’s bad day, she nuzzled into her wife’s neck, craning her neck to kiss along the smooth line of her jaw.

 

Until Arizona pulled her head away, thwarting Callie’s intended plan for the next ten minutes at least. “Calliope!” she scolded in mock outrage. “You _can’t_ be considering making out with me while I’m holding our very young, very impressionable daughter. I don’t want her knowing that girls – or boys – even exist until she’s at _least_ twenty-one.”

 

Looking down at Sofia, who emitted an unreasonably loud snore, Callie raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think she cares. And I intend to kiss you a lot in the next twenty years. She’s gonna be around for some of those times. But okay,” she heaved a teasing sigh, “neglected in favour of the baby. I see how it is.” The firm kiss she placed in the crook of Arizona’s neck indicated that she had absolutely no problem with that at all.

 

A small smile crossed her face at the reference to their future, but Arizona simply shook her head and leaned back against Callie’s shoulder, drawing Sofia closer. She placed the lightest of kisses on top of dark feathery hair, breathing in that beautiful baby smell and rubbing her cheek against softest skin.

 

There were times when the anxiety of what Sofia might still face almost crippled her in its uncertainty. When she awaited each milestone with nervous dread, and heaved a sigh of relief when Sofia met each one head on with a determination she could only have inherited from her mami. And then there were times like this, when Sofia simply cuddled closer and snored with abandon, uncaring of what the future might hold for her.

 

Gratefully, Arizona melted into the arms encircling her waist and settling on her hands around Sofia. Closed her eyes. Tried not to care of what the future might hold for them.

 

She almost succeeded.


End file.
